" Actually, we are strengthening our ownership of our work by putting a license on it even though we are giving it away freely. This not only protects the OERs we create, but also would strengthen the non-OER content we create. By choosing to give away some of what we create we are showing an active protection of the copyrights we do have (rights being important here)."

"Who owns a tattoo? The obvious answer is the wearer, who paid for the ink and is now permanently (more or less) attached to it. Yet recent disputes have called into question the easy idea that if you buy a tattoo, you also own it and can display it as you like. Tattoo artists are increasingly claiming that they, like other artists, own the copyright to the images they create. And when those images, attached to living people, appear on the silver screen - or a computer monitor - the artists want to get paid."

The gradual accumulation of services and data over the years has put Google in something of an untouchable position when it comes to online mapping, which is why when Apple tried to launch its own maps app for iOS devices last year it was so inaccurate and poorly received. "It was a complete disaster because the data they used was just not good enough - they just haven't spent the decades Google has spent just gathering geospatial data," says Brotton, who has worked alongside Google in the past.

we really don't own our stuff anymore (at least not fully); the manufacturers do. Because modifying modern objects requires access to information: code, service manuals, error codes, and diagnostic tools. Modern cars are part horsepower, part high-powered computer. Microwave ovens are a combination of plastic and microcode. Silicon permeates and powers almost everything we own.

"In recent posts I've written about how course instructors can support online learners, how to consider the needs of the learner and guide them through phases of dependency to independence. Yet what is the responsibility of the learner? What role does the online student play in his or her learning? And how can this be communicated to him or her? In this post I discuss learning models that assign responsibility to the learner, how these principles can be applied to online learning, and finally describe how instructors and institutions can hand over responsibility to the student."